close and personal tlau probably the worst hurricanes in the gulf coast in the last 40 years: ivan, dennis, katrina. and katrina i was the commander of the medical forces in pensacola, florida, and i owned the branch clinics that existed in new orleans, pascagula and gulf port, mississippi. we thought we had dodged the bullet and then the levies broke and who would have predicted that there was a sea of humanity in the super dome that basically was in extreme miss? who would have predicted in this day and age we would lose many, many people based on the fact they couldn't be medevacked, that the hospitals themselves had been flooded and the hospital staff was having to carry critically ill patients up to the top floors to avoid the water that was filling in the rooms. who would have predicted that? and were we set up to handle that? and who would have predicted in the early goings there would be civic disorder and civic disobedience and lack of command and control and then the military came there and provided that stability for a while until the civic authorities took over and eventually g